Free Press Staff Writer

Audrey Huston, 11, gets her book signed by Temple Grandin. Grandin, a renowned animal-welfare expert, spoke at the Ira Allen Chapel at the University of Vermont on Tuesday. / MADDIE MCGARVEY/FREE PRESS

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It’s not every day that a guest lecturer in an introductory animal-science course draws a near-capacity crowd to Ira Allen Chapel at the University of Vermont.

That’s what renowned animal-welfare expert Temple Grandin did Tuesday morning. She held forth for about 45 minutes on “Livestock Behavior and Handling” with a fast-paced talk and slide presentation that had her audience of about 800 mostly in thrall, even though many of her listeners probably never even faced the challenge of managing a herd.

This was practical advice of interest to virtually everyone, from cattle farmer to city dweller, because she talked in specific terms about how animals perceive the world, about what sets off their varied emotions, and about how their handlers can most humanely engage them.

“Calm animals are easier to handle than excited or fearful animals,” she said at the outset, adding that 20 to 30 minutes are necessary to calm them down. “Little distractions that people do not notice will cause balking.”

Her appearance was the first of three Wednesday sponsored by the Humane Society of Chittenden County. She was to give an afternoon talk at Essex Cinema on autism, a condition for which she is almost as well known for speaking about as she is for her transformations of the livestock industry. An evening fund-raiser at Shelburne Farms’ Coach Barn was scheduled for the evening.

Her primary audience at Ira Allen comprised the 106 students in associate professor David Kerr’s Animal Science 001, but her points were of interest to hundreds of other adults of all ages who showed up.

Some of the distractions that can unsettle animals?

High contrasts of light and dark, reflections on metal or water, seeing people up ahead and moving objects.

“You have to tie up loose chain ends that scare animals,” she said, bringing up a slide of a dangling chain. “Why after 40 years of giving this talk do I still show this slide?” she asked. Because, she answered, chains are still being left to dangle.

“An animal is a sensory-based thinker” that notices details, she said.

“Solid fences keep animals calmer,” she said. On the other hand, cattle are more likely to enter a barn they can see through. They’ll balk at going into a dark space, or “black hole,” as Grandin calls it.

• “Cattle and pigs should be moved in small groups. Sheep can be moved in larger groups.”

• “Beware of the lone animal. Cows do not like being by themselves — be careful.”

She counseled particularly against raising bulls individually and bottle-feeding them, because they imprint on those who rear them. So, people could easily become the target of the bull’s aggression after it grows up.

In a brief digression, she urged students to consider becoming large-animal veterinarians, of whom “there is a huge shortage” these days. She acknowledged the student debt problem but mentioned a state loan-repayment program for large-animal vets and a “back-door” route to the degree for those willing to be federal meat inspectors.

Grandin is a professor of animal science at Colorado State University, where the website calls her “the most accomplished and well-known adult with autism in the world.” She has worked with major corporations to redesign and assess animal handling systems in ways that reduce stress on the animals. She has even won praise from animal-welfare advocates who oppose meat-eating.

“I take my hat off to her for all the things she has done,” said Ingrid Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, in a phone interview, adding she has “enormous respect” for the work Grandin has done to reduce suffering of hundreds of thousands of cows.

At the same time, Newkirk said of Grandin, “she’s a cowgirl” who can’t quite bring herself to cross the line and oppose slaughter.

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After she left the stage Tuesday, Grandin was asked about the controversy that arose recently over two draft oxen at Green Mountain College. When the oxen could no longer work, the college resolved to slaughter them and serve the meat in the dining hall — a decision that raised widespread protests and that was later rescinded, when one animal was euthanized and the other put out to pasture.

“It gets very, very controversial,” she said. “If you’re in a low-income situation, that’s a waste of meat. I talk to a lot of different people. Real poor people, they’re going to eat that ox. They’re not going to throw that meat away. Only when your income goes up do you have the luxury of saying, he’s a pet, we’re not going to eat him.”

Grandin was wearing an embroidered western-style shirt Tuesday, similar to the one she had on when she gave her 2010 TED talk, “The world needs all kinds of minds” (1.4 million views on YouTube). She spoke briskly, conversationally, and took questions at the end:

How to get a horse into a trailer? “Bring ‘em in and feed ‘em. Do some training. Make sure the first experience is good.”

What does she think of gestation crates for pigs? “Got to go.”

What about chickens? “Do you mean broilers or egg-layers?” Grandin focused on the egg-layers. Free range is fine, but those eggs are expensive.

“What does a hen need to have?” she asked. “She wants a private nest box.” That can be provided in a “caged system with more amenities.”

“Eggs are not a luxury, they’re a necessity,” she said. “We’ve got to keep the alternative for people of low income.”